Two Sides To the Tale
by Kinetic Sleeper
Summary: While Kakashi had officially resigned [been dismissed in order stabilise his mental health] from the ANBU eight years ago, he was never surprised when they turned up uninvited.


**Two Sides To the Tale**

Kakashi had been a member of the ANBU once (Kakashi had been a _damn good_ member of the ANBU once).

Occasionally, when things in the village became particularly tricky, he would be politely requested [ordered] to assist in an ANBU mission, despite his disassociation with the group (well, although he was _once_ in the ANBU, one never truly leaves that secret sect of elite shinobi; the memories won't let you, even if they do).

While he had officially resigned [been dismissed in order stabilise his mental health] from the ANBU eight years ago, he was never surprised when they turned up uninvited (but it wasn't bloody memories of countless murders which had caused the ANBU admin to question his mental health – it had been the cool, efficient way he had gone about making preparations to re-enter the battlefield of a war which was already over).

The ANBU before him silently handed him a tightly furled mission scroll, waiting expectantly as he opened it up and quickly scanned the document (ANBU missions always shoved his mind frame back into the war days; so he'd accidentally slipped up one day by warning his teammates to be wary of Iwa scouts, on a mission going into western Fire Country).

The reconnaissance-possible-slaughter mission detailed on the scroll put him in mind of the one that had led to his eventual dismissal from the Black Ops (it had been a minor slip-up, but one they couldn't afford to ignore in one of their top captains; the consequences of ignoring it could well result in a disastrous compromise of security, for all they knew).

He figured that those at ANBU had specifically chosen it to test his progress, though even if they had it wouldn't matter, because eight years had wrought a hell of a change in Hatake Kakashi (the psychoanalysts were unsurprised to discover in his begrudgingly half-opened mind a complete reconstruction of the major events of the Third Shinobi World War, every scene's detail perfect down to the tiniest blood splatter on a broken leaf).

He no longer lived in the past with his only reason for living the future missions which would take his mind off the past (Kakashi had entrenched his mind in war memories to try and resolve his own issues; not an uncommon occurrence, though most shinobi tended to just repress their worst recollections, never to be touched upon again – of course, Kakashi was not most shinobi); now his reason for living was to carry out future missions for the people he'd come to regard as precious, people who weren't afraid to sling cheesy lines of friendship and love at him, whom he sometimes threw cheesy lines right back at with a grin on his face (Kakashi relived his war-days so he could relive his brief time with his team, all of whom had been the Kings and Queen of Cheesy Lines, especially Obito).

At first, Kakashi had raged against the Sandaime's gentle suggestion that Kakashi leave the Black Ops, unable to see how he could resolve his issues without the terrible missions ANBU gave out, but he'd had to give in eventually (his memories usually traced the old path leading to Obito's death, trying to reconcile himself to the fact that he'd done his best at the time, but memories of Rin would inevitably follow and undo any progress he'd made).

It had taken almost a full six years for him to be deemed stable enough to teach a genin team, and he couldn't help but appreciate the irony of the team Sarutobi had specifically chosen him to mentor (Naruto, of course, always brought back memories of Minato and for many years Kakashi had silently screamed in his heart at gods he wasn't sure existed for Minato's death, because one by one, they'd taken away the people he cared for most; he sometimes wished they'd all died at once, so that his suffering wasn't so drawn out).

In the two years since Sasuke's defect, ANBU missions had turned up more and more frequently, and Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if this was their way of keeping an eye on him, in case he was taking on the guilt of Sasuke's disappearance, just like he did for every other disappearance in his life (if he felt guilty for wishing all his precious people had died at once, he felt even more guilty for not being able to prevent their deaths, especially Rin's; it was no wonder ANBU and the Sandaime were getting jittery about how the events with Sasuke had affected him).

He supposed they were just trying to keep him busy, which is why most of the missions turned out to be bloodless escort or diplomatic envoy ones, but occasionally, though he hardly admitted it to himself, he missed the excitement of a dangerous abduction or assassination (there was no need to worry about his mental state now; he'd finally come to terms with his life and moved on, would continue to do so while the people of Konoha still stood).

So he felt almost eager as he accepted the reconnaissance-possible-slaughter mission from the ANBU and immediately got ready to leave, not only because of the adrenaline rush he was sorely missing, but also because he was glad that the protective Black Ops were finally acknowledging the progress he'd made – not that they'd expect anything less from one of their former best captains (despite the fact that it was clear why Kakashi now fought, it was a little-known fact to normal shinobi that those in ANBU kept a very close eye on their comrades, past and present, so he was glad that they were finally loosening up a little and trusting him with something a little more than the run-of-the-mill).

It was no surprise to those at ANBU when Kakashi came back from his reconnaissance-possible-slaughter mission with yet another overthrown crime ring under his belt.

(after all, Kakashi had been a _damn good_ member of the ANBU once.)

* * *

**I decided to try a new style with this story – or should I say, 'stories'. It's **_**very**_** unpolished, but what I've tried to do is write two separate stories, which meld together as one; that is, the story written outside the brackets, and the story within the round brackets. I realise that the 'stories' don't stand alone very well, and it's probably a very confusing read, but hopefully not so much so that you couldn't enjoy it. Any constructive feedback on the style, flow, etc. or anything else would be much appreciated!**


End file.
